Many people search the web using small Internet devices such as handheld computers, phones, etc., when they are on the move. Though conventional search engines can be directly visited from mobile devices with web browsing capabilities, the information is not as conveniently accessible from a handheld device as it is from desktops. Existing information discovery mechanisms for searching the web are not well-suited to the relatively small display footprints associated with most mobile devices. One reason for this is because when screen size is reduced, as it is in most mobile computing devices, end-user searching efficiency drops.
For example, the small form factors of mobile devices make user interaction very inconvenient. Small devices usually do not have a keyboard or a mouse. It is therefore quite difficult to perform complex tasks, such as entering a long paragraph of text. Additionally, because of the small screen size, web browsing is like seeing a mountain in a distance from a telescope. In this scenario, a user must typically manually scroll the window to find the content of interest and position the window properly for reading information.
Additionally, mobile devices usually have limited processing power and often access the Internet over low-speed wireless networks (e.g. a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) connection, etc.). In such scenarios, a mobile device may take a substantial amount of time to transmit and render a web page. Consequently, individuals may perform fewer searches using a mobile device, and review fewer search result pages on the mobile device, as compared to what would have been done using a full form factor computing device such as a desktop computer with a display.